Bayern was founded in 1900, and in the first quarter of a century, it did not have notable successes. In the second half of the Weimar Republic, they won two South German championships and the first national championship title – in 1932.
The following year, it was from their city that the Nazis came to power in the country and signed the death warrant for the club. The president and coach of the club at that time were Jews who left the country to save their lives.
After World W4r II, the club played in the local Oberliga (one of five in Germany) and was even relegated once before winning the first (of 13) Cup trophies in 1957. Bad results did not recommend Bayern for a place in the inaugural Bundesliga, so they reached the highest league rank only in the third season.
However, the foundations were already laid – coach Zlatko Cajkovski organized a young team led by Beckenbauer, Miller, and Mayer, who would dominate for more than a decade. Bayern soon began to rack up trophies, including three consecutive European titles (1974, 1975, and 1976).
At the end of the 1980s (by winning the tenth title), Bayern took the title of Rekordmeister from Nurnberg, and a little later, Cologne was ousted from the first place in the Bundesliga’s eternal table. Over the past ten years, Bayern has gone one step further.
From season to season, the best football players of the main rivals in the league arrive in the heart of Bavaria, which has a bad effect on the competition itself but creates a complete dominance of Bayern. By contrast, Bayern is struggling to keep pace with rivals from richer leagues in England, Spain, and Italy, and an era when their players have been voted the continent’s best five times in 12 years is a plus.
It is ranked third in the FIFA list of the best clubs of the 20th century. But besides such an outstanding history and the number of trophies won, this club has had some bad moments and matches.
In 2021, the Bayern players were shamefully eliminated from the German Cup in the round of 16. The Bavarians arrived at Borussia Monchengladbach with the strongest team and were big favorites to advance, but they already had a three-goal deficit at halftime.
In the 2nd minute, Kone gave Gladbach the lead, and then Bensebaini scored in the 15th and 21st minutes for 3:0. The Bavarians started offensively in the continuation of the match. Still, Gladbach took advantage of that, and already in the 51st minute, with a goal from Embolo, they went to an unattainable 4:0. Embolo dealt the final blow to Bayern with his second goal in the 58th minute for the final 5:0.
The fact that this was Bayern’s heaviest defeat since 1978 and one of the heaviest in history speaks volumes about the scale of the debacle. This was also a reminder that even the best in football could sometimes be vulnerable.
On December 9, 1978, Bayern lost to Fortune Dusseldorf with a score of 7:1, and this defeat in the Cup is the eighth heaviest in the history of the Bavarian club.
Bayern’s worst defeats:
FC Schalke 04 7:0 Bayern Munich in 1976.
Fortuna Dusseldorf 7:1 Bayern Munich in 1978.
Eintracht Frankfurt 6:0 Bayern Munich in 1975
Kickers Offenbach 6:0 Bayern Munich in 1974.
Saarbrücken 6:1 Bayern Munich in1977.
Here is a list of Bayern’s five biggest European defeats in the club’s history:
1. 1973, quarter-final of the European Cup (Ajax 4-0)
2. 1977, the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup (Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0)
3. 1980, UEFA Cup semi-final (Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1)
4. 1991, 2nd round of the UEFA Cup (FC Copenhagen 6-2)
5. 2008, semi-final of the UEFA Cup (Zenit St. Petersburg 4-0)
Although Bayern also lost in some group matches with similar results, the advanced competition stage gives more importance to those results.